SNOWMAGEDDON: Expect a freezing Easter as temperatures drop to -3C

SNOW DAY: Northern England and Wales will be hit hardest as snow flurries sweep in from the west [GETTY]

Blizzards will continue today and freak ice storms are expected to batter the UK into next week.

The wettest winter in history will continue today - the first day of spring - as a biting cold snap sees temperatures fall to -3C this weekend.

Northern England and Wales will be hit hardest as snow flurries sweep in from the west.

The surge has sparked fears for the Cheltenham Festival, with Coral giving 2-1 that the horse racing meeting will be covered in snow. But the picture for Easter looks even worse, with the cold surge prompting bookies to offer evens the holiday will be ruined by snowfall.

Coral's Nicola McGeady said: "We thought we had escaped the worst of the weather. But March's forecast has made for grim reading, with the odds on snowfall suggesting it's an absolute cert." It comes as this winter was revealed as the wettest since records began in 1766.

Statistics from the Oxford Radcliffe Observatory show 17.1in of rain between December 1 and February 24, smashing a previous high of 16.6in in 1915.

But it is not all over yet, with the entire country due to be hit by heavy downpours tomorrow following today's icy chill. Early next week will see sunshine and scattered wintry showers with overnight frosts, forecasters at The Weather Channel said.

It will warm up by the middle of the week but some parts of the UK will be hit by strong winds.

“We thought we had escaped the worst of the weather. But March's forecast has made for grim reading”

Nicola McGeady, Coral

By Thursday, temperatures could reach 14C in central and eastern England, before another cold snap moves in, causing a freezing finish on Friday.

Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has warned horror floods will continue to batter already underwater parts of the UK for months. He said: "Further groundwater flooding is unfortunately expected over the coming days in the south and south east, and may be an issue for some months to come."

Pickles' fellow Tories have been heaping pressure on Environment Secretary Owen Patterson to protect swamped communities. Eight of the 10 areas most battered and at risk of flooding are represented by Tory MPs, who are now urging the Government to do more to prepare for disasters.

Neil Parish, MP for swamped Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, said: "The recent floods are a wakeup call on the need to do more to protect households from severe weather events."